Zoom: Academy for Superheroes
by gypsyqueen11
Summary: This multiple-chapter story will follow Jack, Marsha, and the team throughout their lives as they grow at Area 52. The first few chapters will be written at the time of the movie and the rest will be fictional. The story will mainly focus on Jack and Marsha's relationship as well as the relationships between the rest of the team.
1. Chapter One: Where it All Begins

Chapter One: Where it All Begins

 _"_ _You spend every last tomorrow looking back on yesterday. I've been where you are, so many times before; these are the moments when you find what you've been living for. This is where you fall, this is where you get up, this is where it all begins."_

-Hunter Hayes & Lady Antebellum

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It was a regular day like every other. Jack, now forty years old and powerless, was halfway through the work day at his automotive shop " _Slow Jack's Auto Shop."_ He had lost his powers with his team and his brother, all save for the smallest bit of speed he could sometimes conjure up. As of right now, he'd managed to use his index finger to make himself a milkshake – and that was the extent of it.

After Concussion had killed his team, Jack was the only original Zenith Team member left, and without any powers worth using in combat, there was no point in keeping him around at the facility. He was sent away twenty years ago, told to just head back home and try live a normal life. So that was what he did, but as one can imagine, it wasn't quite as easy to forget as he had been hoping.

Wiping his hands on an oil-stained rag he'd produced from the back pocket of his jeans, Jack glanced out the window before him momentarily before he would head back to the garage and finish up the job he'd been in the middle of. But out that window, was something that caught his eye enough to distract him. Doing a quick double take, he narrowed his eyes at the beautiful woman in a flattering green dress about to cross the street in front of his shop.

Over the years, Jack had succeeded in developing a typical egotistical, womanizer attitude, so he made his way to the entrance without a second though to get a better look – determined to greet whoever it was if she was planning on coming into the shop. From the threshold, now leaning against the door frame, Jack held his gaze as the woman stood across the street and took off her sunglasses. He wasn't certain just what was so intriguing about her, nor what set her aside from any other woman he'd taken interest in, but something told him that his presence across from her was vital.

She began to cross the road, heading in his direction, which initially pleased him as he hoped for an interaction, but that pleasant feeling soon morphed into utter confusion as an accelerating car came around the corner and sped past her. If the car had hit her, she would have been done for, she was clearly unscathed and yet Jack watched in puzzlement as she held a dramatic hand to her forehead and fell to the ground.

He sensed that something foul was at play, but that looming notion was put aside for the time being as Jack quickly made his way to where she sat in the middle of the road and he picked her up off the ground and ushered her to safety inside the shop before any other vehicles could cause damage. "You sure you're alright?" He reiterated as the two of them rounded the corner, nearing the garage. He didn't understand the situation, but the woman was acting extremely strangely, it was as if she was looking around and waiting for something to appear.

If she responded, Jack didn't hear it. His eyes remained glued on the floor in thought as he tried to piece together the bits and pieces of the circumstances. But his mind was easily distracted, and his vision soon shifted to the woman's shoes. She wore a pair of sky-high black high heels that couldn't have been comfortable – it was no wonder she'd fallen in the street. Thanks to the direction of his gaze, Jack noticed the slight puddle of oil on the ground of the garage a split second before she stepped in it. "Watch out for the –" his warning had been cut short as the woman slipped on the stain and fell to the ground once more. " _grease_." Though finished his precautionary sentence had been futile, Jack suppressed a sigh as he began to notice a pattern with this clumsy woman.

He knelt down to help her up for the second time since they'd met a few minutes ago and involuntarily locked eyes with her. Up close, he noticed that he'd been correct in assuming she was attractive, but it was her eyes that caught his attention. He figured that he was being senseless, but he currently seemed to believe that he'd never seen eyes such a beautiful shade of electric blue before until this very moment. Suddenly recognizing the sound of the vehicle that had just nearly killed her driving into the garage of his shop, Jack clenched his teeth knowing that he was about to be dragged into something.

"Come on, get up." He said impatiently, pulling her to her feet yet again before turning around to face whatever was to come. He wasn't sure what he was expecting from this strange vehicle, but he surely didn't expect Dr. Ed Grant to step out from the passenger seat. As Jack realized that whatever was happening had something to do with Area 52, he could feel his fists clenching in defensive anxiety. " _Grant?_ " He demanded, as two more men who he assumed were bodyguards of some kind exited the car.

"Zoom!" Grant responded enthusiastically, as if nothing had changed in the twenty years since the two of them had last seen each other.

Hearing the label that he'd been pegged with, Jack felt nearly every muscle in his body tense. "It's _Jack_." He ordered definitively, "What are you _doing_ here?" Though it was a question, it may as well have been a command.

"We're starting up a new team!" Grant's strangely chipper attitude clearly had not changed, and Jack still felt the need to ridicule it. For the sake of everyone involved, he severely hoped that Grant was kidding about his statement.

"What, men's slow-pitch softball?" While Grant's attitude had not changed, neither had Jack's everlasting sarcastic humour that rubbed so many people the wrong way. To his fear, Jack realized that Grant had not been kidding as he began to explain the logistics of the situation. But the entire situation had left Jack in such a state of shock that he hadn't even been able to listen to the words that Grant was saying until he was interrupted by the clumsy woman. Upon her addition to the conversation, Jack looked over at her in perplexity with a slightly self-righteous look on his face.

"Why is the _green dress_ talking?" At his sarcastic comment, the woman frowned while narrowing her eyes and inhaling sharply. Judging by her involvement in whatever was happening as well as her reaction to Jack's rudeness, he sensed that this would be the beginning of a _beautiful friendship_.

"I'm a psychologist." Her sentence had trailed off slightly, Jack could tell that whatever confidence she had was dwindling in this precarious situation.

"Oh," Grant said rather awkwardly, he had always had a strange way of dealing with things. "this is Marsha Holloway, she works for Area 52."

Looking away from the woman, who was now nothing but tainted in his mind, Jack began to listen to the rest of Grant's explanation. So, it was true, they really were assembling a brand new Zenith Team, even if the last one had gone down in flames. Jack immediately knew that he wanted absolutely nothing to do with this, he was out of the game – permanently. He didn't believe that anything could possibly be different, especially not with _these two_ acting as the brains of the matter. Grant was clearly scientifically intelligent, but Jack didn't exactly have confidence in his judgement, and this _Marsha Holloway_ woman couldn't be anything but ditsy – her good looks confirmed that.

Jack understood why they needed him, he was the only one left. He had all the experience, but he was lacking power, which is why he would be the perfect fit. He could help lead the facility to success but if he disliked the way things were done, he wasn't powerful enough to act out against it. It was for this reason among many that his attitude towards Area 52 and anyone involved with the installation would always be nothing but bitter and resentful. Above all that, he had no interest in being the captain of another Zenith Team – that life was behind him.

Within a few moments, it became obvious that Grant had predicted Jack might react in this way, because he had brought along a little something that would help get the former superhero back to the hidden military installation in Death Valley by whatever means necessary. Though Jack should have been expecting a little brute force, the dart gun – filled with what, he didn't know – still caught him off guard. Apparently, not _everyone_ had been informed about this particular of the plan, so Miss Holloway was just as shocked as Jack was.

"You can't _shoot_ him!" She exclaimed hurriedly before attempting to push the gun away from Dr. Grant. Unfortunately, in doing so, the trigger was pulled, and the dart rebounded off the ceiling once before lodging itself in Jack's shoulder. The last thing that he saw before everything went black was Grant and Marsha – wide-eyed and shocked. " _Sorry."_ He heard her say quietly, but her words bounced around inside his head as the world faded.


	2. Chapter Two: The A Team

Chapter Two: The A Team

 _"_ _They say she's in the class A team, stuck in her daydream, been this way since eighteen. But lately, her face seems slowly sinking, wasting, crumbling like pastries. And they scream, the worst things in life come free to us."_

-Ed Sheeran

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Before Jack even opened his eyes, he was fully aware that he now found himself back in the very place that he hoped and believed he would never be forced to return to. Blinking away his subdued internal anger and bracing himself for whatever he might find upon opening his eyes, the image of Dr. Grant's overly enthusiastic face was brought to his attention, though the things that the older man was saying were admittedly ignored as Jack observed his vaguely familiar surroundings.

Though Jack could feel the rage simmering inside of him, he knew that he was in fact powerless in this situation. This was the government he was dealing with, they believed themselves to be the ultimate power. So, he let Grant talk on and on about whatever it was that would come next as Jack was lead down a nearby hallway. Where they were going, he didn't know. Jack was surprised to see that not much had changed since the last time he'd been there, the hallways seemed hauntingly familiar. Through Grant's endless words, Jack learned that he would be part of the adjudication panel for judging the candidates of this new team as well as training whoever they decide on.

Right before the suffocation of what was happening could overcome him, Jack and Grant were joined by a woman who was struggling to keep up to the two men with her petite stature and heeled-shoes. Initially, Jack believed this to be a stranger, and was therefore confused as to why she was talking as if she knew exactly who he was and what she was doing here. It wasn't until she tripped over thin air and fell to the ground at his feet that he realized it was Marsha Holloway from what must have been earlier that day.

After helping her up off the ground with a roll of his eyes, he took a step back and took in her new appearance. Her previous glamour was attempting to be hidden behind her thick glasses and oversized lab coat, but she was clearly the same person. "Do you have an inner-ear problem?" He said in sarcastic disbelief, not forgetting his distaste for this particular woman even if he did find himself uncontrollably attracted to her all the same.

Before any kind of argument could break out between the two of them, Dr. Grant reintroduced her as the leading psychologist of Area 52 in the realm of metaphysical studies as well as human psychology and a bright smile spread across her face. Jack could tell by the stars in her eyes that she had some very high standards for him. He personally couldn't wait to disappoint her. After this one encounter, Jack smirked as he believed that he had her completely pegged. She was one of those infuriatingly optimistic people with the naïve idea that certain people are much greater than they truly are.

Jack felt like a bit of a robot as he walked between the two scientists while Grant continued to talk. He most definitely did not belong here, maybe he did at one point – or he thought he did – but not anymore. Jack was naturally skeptical, it was who he was as a person, but the trauma that he'd experienced in his life had only added to that and made him now utterly impossible to deal with. He knew that he would be the undoing of at least one or two people here at this facility, and he was looking forward to seeing just how far he could take his apathetic attitude before people started breaking.

As their walk of unknown destination continued, Jack initially tried to tune out the chatter beside him, but it was Miss Holloway's words that caught his attention. Not for the content, per se, but because he thought he had her all figured out, and he wanted to prove that, so he listened. It was exhausting, to say the least; never before had he ever met anyone with such blind optimism. Jack was truly hoping that at least some of this cheerfulness was forged, if not, he feared she might be clinically insane. With a tiresome sigh, Jack decided that he didn't care to find out. Whatever the case may he, he had a feeling that their many, _many_ differences would soon come to light and that their future encounters with each other may not be entirely pleasant.

After Jack had been introduced to a room of applauding scientists, the real work was already about to begin. The trio stood in a large, glass viewing panel above what appeared to be the exact same room that Jack and his original team trained in back in the eighties. When Grant announced that they were going to bring in the candidates, Jack was utterly confused when he saw an endless lineup of children enter the gymnasium below. Judging on what he saw, there couldn't have been a single candidate older than eighteen. Jack glanced around himself, hoping to see the same confusion on the faces of his fellow _judges_ that he wore on his own. To his left, Dr. Grant seemed preoccupied with his clipboard of notes and to his right, Miss Holloway was positively teeming with excitement. All things combined sent Jack into a tailspin of skepticism.

Moments later, Dr. Grant was leading the way down the heavy staircase that would lead to the gymnasium. Before entering the stairwell, Jack stepped to the side, seemingly to let Marsha walk before him, but he stopped her before she could pass by him. "You realize that you've got a bunch of _kids_ down there." He said sarcastically, hoping that at least one other person would realize how ridiculous the situation was. They could potentially have a team made up of six-year-olds.

Picking up on Jack's cynicism, Miss Holloway gave him a simple smile as she spoke. "You might be surprised." Was all she said before moving past him and following Grant into the open area. Jack remained motionless momentarily, rolling his eyes with a sigh and shoving his hands in his pockets before accepting his fate and joining the others.

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After four hours and thirty candidates, the final decision had been made. The task was simple, the children would demonstrate their supposed power, Jack, Miss Holloway, and Dr. Grant would assess their abilities, discuss their opinions with each other, and then come to a conclusion. This was all something that should have taken mere minutes per candidate, but they all quickly realized that Jack and Marsha were conceivably not the best pair to attempt to come to a unanimous decision in a short amount of time.

Technically, if Jack would be training the children physically and Miss Holloway would be training them psychologically, it should have only been the two of them on the adjudication panel. But it was clear now that Dr. Grant's presence was necessary as a referee between the two of them. Unfortunately, this was not an easy task, and he gave up after the fourth child demonstrated their abilities.

Because of Jack's utter inability to conform to the idea of being easy to work with, he couldn't help but pinpoint the most minute of problems in every candidate. He didn't feel the need to tiptoe around their feelings simply because they were children, he just wanted to get it all over with while expressing just how badly he didn't want to have any involvement with the entire program. Miss Holloway had an entirely different mindset, and that was what led to the downfall of their dynamic. If she had her way, the team would have consisted of all thirty children, most of which possessed completely useless talents that could hardly be classified as powers. But she seemed certain that with the right training, they could each be considered superhuman.

She herself knew that this was nothing short of foolish, but she just couldn't bear to risk seeing a dejected look on a single one of their faces. It was because of this that she tried her hardest to fight for every child who showed even the slightest bit of potential – something that Jack rather enjoyed arguing. After a while, he grew agitated and her persistent inability to see anything negative in people only made him want to argue even harder the other way. This combined with the fact that for some reason, it seemed that Miss Holloway was jut one of those people who Jack felt the excessive need to ague with led to a very long day.

Throughout the painful audition process, merely four children stood out that all three judges could unanimously agree on. Thankfully, it was clear that these were the candidates that would be selected in the end, as their powers were not only the most prominent, but they would be the most useful in a situation that required combat. The first of these candidates came in the form of a rather overweight twelve-year-old boy named Tucker Williams. Upon approaching the panel of judges, he stood silently and unmoving for a moment, as if he was unsure where exactly his powers would come from.

When nothing happened, Jack lowered his eyebrows in impatient confusion and glanced to his right where Miss Holloway sat. "So, is he doing it or is he just naturally this chubby?" Before Marsha could even reprimand him for his sarcastic comment, the boy's left food suddenly expanded as if it was filled with air, causing his shoe to fly off. When he proceeded to do the same with his entire head, it became clear that this was something they could work with. Looking to his right once again, Jack noticed Marsha giving him a grin that seemed to scream the words _I told you so_.

Next came a seventeen-year-old boy by the name of Dylan West. He appeared to be the epitome of the teenage stereotype, nonchalant, in need of a haircut, and popping a piece of gum while he slouched before the judges with his hands in the pockets of his baggy blue jeans. Due to these factors, Jack was immediately rendered unimpressed and began to mock him without missing a beat. To his credit, the boy remained unfazed by Jack's sarcastic ridicule as he shrugged his shoulders before turning his entire body invisible and guaranteeing himself a spot on the team.

Following Dylan was Summer Jones, a tall girl of sixteen years old with an eerie look in her eyes. Though she was young, her words seemed to convey that she was knowledgeable well beyond her years. She silently used nothing but her mind to lift a glass off the desk before her and shatter it against the nearby wall, displaying her power of telekinesis. Yet again, Jack couldn't help but make fun of her power. "I _see_ things." Summer argued in an attempt to make him take her seriously.

"Do you see _dead people_?" Jack mocked, which he sensed prompted a roll of Miss Holloway's eyes from beside him. He was correct in this assumption, Marsha simply sighed upon realizing that the teenaged girl before her was more mature than the adult man beside her.

"I see that you suffer from a _massive_ superiority complex." She said sarcastically – _clearly_ it was just the opposite – before leaving the centre of the room and taking a seat with the rest of the contestants.

While Miss Holloway was focused on trying not to laugh at Summer's rebuttal, Jack leaned towards her and continued the joke. "I try to hide that so well."

Finally, one of the youngest contestants came forward. Cindy Collins, an undeniably adorable six-year-old girl with blonde ponytails. Seemingly confused about the task at hand, she began to sing the alphabet as opposed to display whatever power she supposedly possessed. Jack immediately raised his eyebrows in confusion and looking to his right for confirmation that her song was not in fact her power, but Marsha seemed only in awe of the child's innocence and it was clear to Jack that she would not be stopping the little girl from singing her song any time soon.

With a sharp sigh, Jack wondered if he was the only sane adult in the whole facility, and told the girl to stop. "That's not a talent, you're singing the alphabet." He looked down at the child's file which he held in his hands as he spoke rather harshly, "And your voice isn't super, it's _average_."

With these final words, the little girl narrowed her eyes while approaching the desk, "It is _too_ super." Was all she said before picking up the desk and throwing it against the wall with a warning glint in her eyes.

Shocked, Jack raised his eyebrows in disbelief and looked to Marsha, who was sporting a satisfied smile, as if there was no doubt in her mind that this little girl would do something impressive.

With the team finally selected, Jack had hoped that the worst was over, but his hopes were soon crushed with the realization that he would be expected to train these children to become nothing short of heroic. While the children were waiting in what would soon become the classroom in which they would train with Miss Holloway, the three adults prepared for the next step in the procedure. Marsha believed that this step would likely be the most challenging, and that was introducing the children to the _great_ Captain Zoom.

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First impressions had gone exactly how Miss Holloway had feared they might go. Unfortunately, this was the exact opposite of how she _hoped_ they would go. Needless to say, Jack left the already nervous children feeling nothing short of terrified about what was to come at the facility. He had recklessly put the notion into their heads that they would inevitably be blasted with Gamma-13 radiation just as his team had been. Within mere minutes of Jack speaking to the new team, Miss Holloway had ordered him into the hallway.

"I already told you, we will not be dosing the children!" She said, keeping her voice quiet but strained as she tried her hardest to get through to the problematic man before her.

Jack crossed his arms as he reflected on the children he'd been introduced to. Frankly, he wasn't sure that they had the potential to get anywhere _without_ a little radiation. "Well _Sweetheart,_ " across from him, Miss Holloway narrowed her eyes at the sarcastic use of the would-be endearing nickname, "based on what I've seen in _there,_ " Jack gestured to the room from which they'd just emerged, "I think you may want to dose them just a _little bit._ " Suddenly, Marsha wondered if Jack could say anything that wasn't sarcastic while also fighting back the urge to wipe the teasing grin off his face. She wasn't sure how she would manage that one, a slap most likely, but there were other options that she tried to convince herself she wasn't considering.

Initially, she'd hoped that his arrogantly rude demeanor was simply a result of not wanting to participate in anything related to the Zenith Program, but Marsha now inhaled sharply as she realized that this might just be who he _was_. It was now clearer than ever that _Captain Zoom_ was nothing more than a character constructed around the sarcastic man standing in front of her. _Jack Shepherd_ was the reality behind the hero, and she couldn't stand him.

"I don't think you understand their sensitive conditions!" Her voice was growing louder now, but she needed to make him see that the children were scared and needed someone to look up to, not someone to put even more fear into their minds. But her argument was in vain, as Jack's sanctimonious attitude didn't falter.

"What about _my_ sensitive condition?" Jack was forced to lean forwards due to the large height difference between the two of them, prompting him to consider just how ridiculous their argument was. "I'm being forced to _betray_ children for _money._ " They stood in brief silence for a moment, though their eyes continued to argue wordlessly.

"Are you _done_?" Marsha asked, developing a sarcastic tone of her own.

Giving her a look that was teeming with provocation, he decided to target her a little more personally before their argument could come to an end. "I left a little pause in there in case you wanted to slip and fall again."


	3. Chapter Three: Under Pressure

Chapter Three: Under Pressure

 _"_ _Why can't we give ourselves one more chance? Why can't we give love one more chance? Cause love's such an old-fashioned word, and love dares you to care for the people on the edge of the night, and love dares you to change our way of caring about ourselves."_

-Queen and David Bowie

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Jack had only been back at Area 52 for two days, but it felt like it must have been at least a year. After the fatiguing process of selecting which children would form the new and improved Zenith Team, Jack had hoped that his days at the facility would only get easier. Unfortunately, when the next day rolled around, he was proven incorrect. With his unpropitious first impression left on the children, Miss Holloway had been trying her very hardest to clean up after Jack, but she regrettably would be forced to leave certain things in his hands.

Jack's second day at Area 52 had turned out to be even more trying than the first, as that was the day that he would officially begin training the children. In the morning, they would attend their psychological training with Miss Holloway, and after lunch they would be with him in the gymnasium for their physical training. The quick progression from being selected for the team to beginning training seemed suspicious to him, and it made Jack wonder just what they were being trained for and why it felt like he was working on borrowed time.

The whole ordeal left Jack feeling unsettled and on edge. He hadn't really trusted Area 52 and the government that surrounded it over twenty years ago when the original team was in its prime, and that feeling only worsened with every passing day after the Gamma-13 incident. The main source of uncertainty came from the fact that Jack had no idea who he could and couldn't trust, so in his mind, the only acceptable solution to this problem was to trust absolutely no one. He decided to live out the rest of his days in the facility while being suspicious of anyone and everyone involved with it, a way of life that made working alongside him extremely difficult for certain people.

The children's first day of training went smoothly with Marsha, as she talked them through any questions they might have had and ultimately made them feel a lot better about whatever was in store for them. Unfortunately, Jack didn't seem to take on this same approach. Their first session of physical training was stressful and demanding while Jack continued to display his apathetic and sarcastic tendencies. Because this could grow boring for him, he began to search for faults that he hadn't even considered before.

During a break in their training, Jack realized that he was skeptical of the psychological training that they had received hours earlier. "What did you learn with Miss Holloway?" He asked in such a way that made the kids wonder if he was being serious or not.

"Why do you care?" Dylan answered definitively before walking away to join the rest of his team.

" _Touché_." Jack raised an eyebrow but continued to ponder his inquiry. He simply didn't know what good she could possibly be doing for the team. Someone without any powers of their own doesn't know nearly enough about the psychological aspect of them even if she'd devoted her life to studying them.

The next day of training came about in a similar manner. Miss Holloway taught them sufficiently, and Jack refused to put his heart or even his mind into anything regarding his training. The main part of the physical training sessions was for Jack to inform the kids about their powers and help them develop and control them as well as work them out to build up natural strength for combat. This should have been simple task as he had powers of his own years ago and knew plenty about many aspects of what it was like to use them to one's advantage.

Unfortunately for everyone, Jack's apathy didn't allow him to see the importance of putting any effort into training the children in an in-depth manner. Coaching them would take selfless work and attention, and those were things that he just wasn't willing to put into anything involving the team. Not only that, he didn't necessarily know _how_ to train the kids, and he certainly didn't _want_ to, so instead of trying to figure it out, he simply gave them a vague idea of what they could do while he worked himself out for his own way to pass time.

Getting into shape would be helpful if the time ever came for Jack to help the children in combat, but that wasn't exactly high up on the list of necessities at this point in time. But the children are intelligent, and the two older kids on the team could easily team up to take the training into their own hands to that it wouldn't be a complete waste of time. This along with Miss Holloway's training could hopefully develop their powers, but it was Jack's attitude that was truly holding everyone back. Not only did it evoke much uncertainty from the team of children, but it absolutely exhausted Marsha, who was supposed to be considered his partner in the endeavor of training the team.

Her and Dr. Grant were often rendered impatient with Jack's antics as the two of them were putting their time and effort into the team and Jack simply refused to do so. The kids needed him more than ever; they were living and learning in a foreign place that didn't seem at all homey, they had no idea what their powers would be used for in the future, and more than anything they just needed someone to look up to. They needed a captain to follow. They needed someone who knew what it was like to be in their shoes, someone who they knew would always keep their best intentions in their thoughts and actions.

While it was Jack who needed to step up and fill this position, it was Miss Holloway who truly came forward. It was true that she wanted nothing but safety and success for the children and they trusted her almost immediately, but she simply couldn't help them in certain ways that she knew Jack could thanks to his experience on the original team. Everyone working close to the team was affected by Jack's refusal to participate. Dr. Grant's hopes were fading, and one could practically _see_ him growing more tightly wound with every day as he worried about not meeting the tyrannous General Larraby's standards.

And though Jack had initially thought it to be impossible, even Marsha's hopeful demeaner was beginning to falter and her invariable smile was beginning to fade. The optimist that she constantly sported had seemed to become merely a façade. For reasons that were unknown to him at the time being, this was something that Jack actually found unsettling. In his mind, Marsha's positivity was an unchangeable force to be reckoned with, if he was actually capable of breaking this, he must have been severely difficult.

After two disastrous days of training – or lack there of – it was not lost on Jack that his conceited indifference was causing exhaustion to everyone around him. But there was only one person who consistently acknowledged this and actually called him out on it. The children assumed that there was nothing they could do about Jack's lack of concern, and Grant was too involved with other things to really put much attention to it, but Miss Holloway was constantly voicing her worries. Somehow, there was a particular corner in the western sector of the facility where the two of them had managed to physically run into each other on several separate occasions. This seemed to happen no matter how hard he worked at avoiding her. It was at these times that she would give him a piece of her mind for not putting in an acceptable amount of effort when it came to the children.

But it wasn't only this corner, the arguments would break out if they encountered each other around various parts of the facility. Not only that, there were times that they would seek each other out, sometimes even waiting at the other's door, simply to argue with each other. Jack had initially been impressed, he wasn't expecting Miss Holloway to turn out to be the only person he'd ever met who could easily match him in a battle of wits and words.

Jack tried not to let the words she was saying resonate with him, he argued for the mere satisfaction of feeling something. Either that or he simply enjoyed the glint in her eyes that appeared whenever he aggravated her. But the last thing that he wanted was for someone to actually get through to him. Deep down, he knew that he was being unpleasant and overly difficult, but he didn't need anyone actually forcing him to let himself care about things again or put passion into anything that could be considered a risk. Frankly, he thought was impossible. Apparently, this was something that he took for granted.

The one thing that he had to admire about Miss Holloway was her persistence. The fact that she must really care about the wellbeing of the team in order to berate him so frequently was not lost on him. Over the past couple days, she'd been putting all her resources and energy into helping them be the best that they can be and supporting them along the way. She spent a great deal of her time attempting to convince Jack to do the same. All things considered, she couldn't just be someone who was merely interested in the team's success for the sake of the facility. To do what she did took someone who was invested in their genuine prosperity.

Something that Jack didn't realize, was that there was no real reason that he should seek out Miss Holloway simply to argue with her. She had cause to do so, but he should have had the rationale to put more effort into avoiding her if this was the case. He knew full well that each one of their encounters would end with the slamming of a door – usually hers – but even so, he sought her out. Perhaps he was more willing to let someone work their way past his defences than he was aware of.

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Upon awakening the next morning just as bright and early as everyone else did, Jack was not looking forward to the third day of training. It was Wednesday, which he had been informed was the one day of the week devoted to assessing the children's abilities and improvements. This meant that there would be no training with Miss Holloway as she would be right alongside him taking notes of her own.

Though he was dreading the day ahead of him, Jack noted that he was somehow feeling rather refreshed and was confused for a moment before realizing that it was because he no longer had the headache that he had fallen asleep with. Conjuring up the memory of how he'd gotten the headache in the first place, he was reminded of the argument he'd had with Marsha at the end of the previous day.

Everything she said to him was right, of course, but he would be damned if he was going to admit that to himself let alone her. In his opinion, she would simply have to open her eyes to the fact that this is who he _was_ , there was nothing that she could say or do to change that. It didn't take long, however, for him to realize that he might not have had her as figured out as he had believed he did a few days ago. There was something about her that resulted in confusion and he wasn't sure why, but it annoyed the hell out of him. _She_ annoyed the hell out of him. Her irritating optimism, her naïve outlook, her persistency, her inability to let things go, he couldn't stand any of it. So why did he still find himself cleaning up his appearance that morning with her in mind? With a shake of his head, he decided that that was a question for another day.

By the time that Jack had finally made his way to the observation chamber above the gymnasium, Dr. Grant and Miss Holloway were already in the middle of assessing Cindy's powers below. Upon evaluating Marsha's disposition from afar and deeming her all too chipper for so early in the morning, he braced himself for her excitement with a sigh.

"It's remarkable!" He heard her saying to Dr. Grant, who seemed a bit tired himself though he tried to humour her with a nod of his head. "Two point five tonnes per arm!" Marsha excitedly scribbled something along those lines on the clipboard in her hands before turning her attention back to the young girl in the training room who was effortlessly holding ten thousand pounds above her head. If she had heard Jack enter the room, she didn't acknowledge it.

Finally allowing his presence to be known, Jack stepped in between the two scientists and gave Grant an understanding look before reckoning himself prepared to glance in Miss Holloway's cheerful direction. She must not have heard him enter the room after all, because she looked rather surprised to see him. Before she could stop herself – because she surely _would have_ had she considered her words – she spoke. "Wow, you _shaved_." After realizing what she'd said, a slight blush came to her cheeks as she bit her tongue.

Wondering why she had recently acquired the unbecoming talent of exclaiming things without even thinking about what she was saying, she realized that Jack seemed to have the ability to sway her judgement. He himself looked nothing but pleased at her statement as he revelled in the pink on her cheeks. Satisfied that she'd distinguished his efforts, he leaned towards her flirtatiously, "Wow, you _noticed_." He hoped that she would at least _acknowledge_ his advances, but she'd proven time and again to be thoroughly oblivious with respect to all the flirting that he'd been doing. Although, it may supposedly have gone unnoticed due to all the arguing that they'd also been doing.

Turning his attention to the subject at hand, the first thing that Jack noticed about Cindy was not the exceptional use of her powers, but the clothing that she was sporting. The pink princess dress that she had on looked like it had come straight from a costume store, and Jack didn't have any idea as to why she was allowed to wear such a getup during professional training. Needing to address the issue, Jack hit the button on the nearby intercom which projected his voice down to the young girl in the training room.

" _What_ are you wearing?" He said, with a rather defeated tone to his voice.

"I'm a princess!" She stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, successfully avoiding his question. Depleted, Jack looked to his right where Miss Holloway stood, hoping to get some help from her. Instead, he found that she was once again overcome by Cindy's charmingly childish antics.

He rolled his eyes and continued to argue with the six-year-old. " _Cindy,_ you're not a princess."

"But I look pretty!" Everyone in the room above could sense a tantrum coming, but Jack continued to press father.

"Yeah, but _pretty girls_ don't have any real friends and never get any respect," he didn't even glance in Marsha's direction as he formulated a way to insult her while speaking to Cindy, "take Miss Holloway, for instance."

" _Hey_ ," was all Marsha had the chance to argue with before Jack's hand was on her back, urging her to flee to safety as Cindy threw a weight at the booth, successfully shattering supposedly unbreakable protective glass.

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Later that day, Jack's hopes for having a minute to spend in silence were obliterated when he accidentally ran into Marsha around that infamous corner. Before Jack could even apologize, she spoke in a hurried but not particularly unpleasant voice, "Oh good, I was just looking for you…" As she began, Jack took on a skeptical demeanor. She was _never_ pleased to see him, which meant that there was likely some kind of favour that she needed from him. "…I need you to talk to Cindy."

" _Me?_ " He interrupted before she could explain any more. He wanted to make it plainly obvious that he wanted nothing to do with whatever she had in mind for him, but before he could even begin to object, she was leading him towards the closed door of the children's classroom. Through the small window pane, Jack could see the young girl sitting in the room swinging her legs absentmindedly at her desk with her back to them.

"You have to get her to stop throwing things, not only is it dangerous, but it's costing us funds." Luckily, Miss Holloway was looking at Cindy through the window as she spoke to Jack, if she had been looking in his direction she would have seen the nonchalant look on his face and started an argument that neither of them really wanted to have.

"That's not my problem," Jack shrugged impatiently with a bitter role of his eyes. " _you_ deal with it."

Upon hearing his objection, Miss Holloway finally looked his way, with the slightest hint of surprise in her eyes. For some reason, no matter how familiar she had become with his apathetic ways, she would always be expecting him to do the right thing and unwillingly be taken aback whenever he refused. "I really think it would be better if you could talk to her. Besides, it might show her that you're the leader of their team and that you're the person who she'll go to for things."

Jack suppressed the urge to chuckle bitterly at her naïvely optimistic hopes for him, "You _know_ I have no interest in being that person."

Letting out a sigh that resulted more from exhaustion and disappointment than irritation, she really hoped that Jack didn't walk away from her just yet as she didn't really feel like chasing him down the hallway. "Couldn't you just –"

"I don't get why _you_ don't just talk to her." Jack interrupted her plea, " _You're_ the shrink, isn't that kind of your _thing?_ "

"I talk to her _all the time_ , Mr. Shepherd." Miss Holloway attempted to keep her temper controlled, though her teeth were clenched. "Would it kill you to just deal with this _one_ issue?" And just like that, her voice had taken on what Jack knew to be a specifically agitated tone that signified the transition from their conversation into an argument.

" _Yeah_ , I really just don't care enough about any of this to step in at this point." He argued sarcastically, knowing that it would only irritate her further.

His condescending tone evoked the narrowing of her eyes as she continued. "It's not like I'm asking you to -"

"Why can't you just do it yourself if it's so -"

"Jack, _please._ " Her voice had shifted from argumentative to fatigued and definite, even with slight traces of pleading. It was clear that she could continue arguing should she need to, but she was finalizing her argument by merely asking him if he would simply do this one thing for _her_.

Jack didn't know what it was, and he was certainly unfamiliar with whatever had shifted inside of him in that moment, but he could feel himself easily caving to her wishes and all he could do was sigh in an admission of defeat. As he rolled his eyes once more and moved past her to enter the classroom, he caught the glimpse of a pleasantly surprised smile forming on her face. If she'd known that getting him to agree to her wishes was that simple she would have tried it a long time ago. And if he'd known that agreeing to her wishes resulted in getting to see that smile, _he_ would have tried it a long time ago.

"Mr. Shepherd," Cindy called to him before he was even finished entering the room. "what were you and Miss Holloway talking about out there?" Jack could now see that Cindy wasn't simply passing time in the classroom by herself out of boredom, she had about a dozen Barbie dolls spread out on her desk and was currently putting barrettes into the hair of one of them.

"Apparently, I'm supposed to tell you that you've got to stop throwing things around when you get frustrated." He said, hoping that their conversation would be quick and easy, so he didn't even bother to pull up a chair, instead he shoved his hands into his pockets casually.

Unfortunately for him, Cindy seemed to completely ignore what he'd just said and moved on to a topic of her own choosing. "You're going to marry her, you know." She said decisively with a mischievous grin and moved on to the next doll.

Confused, Jack had no idea what she was talking about. " _What?_ Who –"

"Miss Holloway," Cindy said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "you're going to marry her."

Jack raised his eyebrows and tried his hardest not to laugh sarcastically, the thought of him and Marsha even _getting along_ at this point in time was enough to evoke satirical implications. "Where the hell did you get _that_ idea from?"

"Well, you _like_ her, don't you?" She asked innocently.

" _Cindy,_ " Jack now finally deemed in necessary to sit down in a nearby chair that was entirely too small for him. "have you not _seen_ us together?"

"I know that you guys fight a lot, but that's not what I mean. I mean you _like_ her like her." As she continued to brush her doll's hair, the mischievous smile reached her eyes as Jack realized she enjoyed teasing him.

"Kid, I can promise you right now that we're not going to get _married_ , that's ridiculous."

"Then what _were_ you talking about in the hallway?"

"Not _marriage_." Jack said rather defensively, but Cindy just looked on expectantly, telling him to get to the point. "Well, it's like I said before, people are getting…" he struggled to find the correct term, "… _concerned_ about the way that you react when you get frustrated."

"You mean when I throw things?"

"Yeah, it's not safe, you could end up hurting someone, and I'm sure you don't want that."

"Okay, I'll stop." She said with a smile and went back to her dolls. Jack raised his eyebrows, if only arguing with _everybody_ was that easy. He stood to leave the room when Cindy spoke once more in a teasing tone, "I still think you're going to marry Miss Holloway."

Jack simply rolled his eyes and left the room, not knowing why he suddenly was feeling rather warm.

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The long days that were supposed to be filled with training continued in the same manner as they had since the formation of the new team. Jack decided that since he himself was getting bored with how bitter he was being, he decided to take on a new outlook. And that outlook consisted of having his own kind of fun around the facility. If there was one thing one should know about Jack Shepherd, it was that while he under no circumstances took _chances_ , especially those involving other people, he was quite fond of taking _risks_ that could lead to the demise of no one but himself.

He now awoke each day wondering what kind of trouble he could get himself into in the following hours and he had recently grown accustomed to taking the children down with him as they had nothing better to do but follow.

Since Miss Holloway was sufficiently preoccupied that morning with a day full of meetings, Dr. Grant was supposed to take over the portion of the children's training that Marsha would usually be in charge of, but he had unfortunately and suddenly been called to a meeting of his own, so the children were reluctantly left in the _capable hands_ of Mr. Shepherd for the morning.

Within half an hour, Jack had successfully hijacked the old flying saucer used for military reasons with the help of the children and they had been to a fast food restaurant and back – though, not without managing to avoid the press along the way. Meanwhile, back at the facility, Miss Holloway had caught a glimpse of a local newscast and knew immediately who was behind this unfortunate incident

The minute that the team stepped back into the bunker at the facility, Jack could sense that there was hell to pay, and that it came in the form of a petite brunette woman whose eye he had caught from across the room. As she walked towards him, Jack could practically feel the exasperation, fury, and exhaustion that was overcoming her, but he simply grinned in anticipation. "Dylan, I would disappear if I were you." He suggested to the young man beside him who did just that.

Jack met Miss Holloway halfway, wondering just how far he could push her today. He decided that as long as he was already in trouble, there wasn't much harm in making it worse. " _Hey_ , Marsha!" He said in a faux cheerily manner, though anyone could have picked up on the challenging look that he was giving her.

Whatever she said next, he didn't exactly listen to as he remembered the food that he had brought back and hoped that maybe it would make up for his little excursion. Without even bothering to acknowledge her anger-filled words, he interrupted, " _Yeah_ , I brought you a hot chicken sandwich." He said with a testing smile.

She simply rolled her eyes and sighed. Some good that would do for her, she didn't even eat meat. "No, _thank you!_ " She said in disbelief, hoping that he would bring his attention back to the matter at hand as her irritation rose with each moment she spent in his presumptuous presence.

Jack raised an eyebrow, deciding to focus instead on what she'd just said. He knew that there was something off about her, this would explain it. "Are you a _vegetarian_?"

Though she ignored his pointless inquiry, the taken aback look in her eyes told him that he was spot on. "You're supposed to be _training_ the children for their first _simulation!_ Instead, you're off _gallivanting_ in a _stolen_ spaceship!"

Scoffing at her choice of words, Jack continued to prod simply because he knew that it would annoy her to maximum capacity. "I'm sorry, was I _gallivanting?_ " He teased, and she shot him a warning look, which he ignored. "Looks like the saucer's not the only thing stuck in the fifties."

She inhaled sharply and narrowed her eyes at him. Jack could plainly see her searching for a proper way to execute the perfect comeback, but all she managed to come up with was " _You're_ probably _fifty!_ " Staring at her for a moment, Jack pressed the locking button on the shuttle keys in her face before walking away. As he left, she could hear him chuckling at her strangely endearing weak argument in an arrogant way that left her blood boiling.

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As the long days passed, each one as unsuccessful as the last, the arguments got worse, the attempts at training were all classified as failures, and the children grew nervous as the adults grew frustrated. The problem was clear, Jack was the only one who refused to play his part in this, and it was holding everyone back. Miss Holloway continuously tried every day to get through to him, but he tried his best to ignore her.

She might have been the only person who saw what the real issue was. She knew the story and she was well aware of Jack's past, she knew that his time at Are 52 had ended in catastrophic tragedy. Of course it was hard for him to come back under such circumstances and basically be forced to relive it. But, she also knew that if she addressed his past and the things that troubled him specifically, he would only freeze up and grow colder – and if they wanted to get anywhere with this team, that just couldn't happen.

One night, after the children were all in bed, Jack found himself back in the large recreational room that had always been considered the "lounge" back when he was on the original team. He'd forgotten his keys and was hoping to retrieve them and go, but upon entering the room, he noticed someone at the back counter making what smelled like a cup of fruity tea. As the person – who turned out to be Miss Holloway – turned around to face him, he almost didn't recognize her.

The darkness of the room make vision difficult, and the single fluorescent light that she had turned on above the counter only illuminated half of her face. Though the fact that she wasn't wearing neither her glasses nor her lab coat and her hair was free from the ponytail that it had been in earlier made her seem like a completely different person, it was her demeanor that threw him off.

She seemed calm – calmer than he'd ever seen her before – as she stirred a spoonful of sugar into her tea with a sigh. Upon further examination of her expression, Jack realized that perhaps her uncharacteristic serenity and tranquility was induced by exhaustion. And that exhaustion as no doubt induced by _himself_. Neither of them were particularly in the mood for an argument, and they were unsure of how this one even began, but the inevitable cannot be avoided, so five minutes later, they were shooting sharp accusations at each other just as they had grown so accustomed to doing.

After what appeared to be a final word in their argument, Jack sat exasperatedly on the couch while Marsha sighed to herself, the cup of tea that she had been so looking forward to enjoying completely forgotten. She shut her eyes for a second longer than usual before realizing that perhaps she needed to take a different – somewhat less impulsive – approach to getting through to Jack. She took a tentative but tired seat next to him on the loveseat and sighed once more.

"Jack, I know that you didn't ask for any of this," she began, the genuine tone of her voice caused him to glance over at her which proved unfortunate for him because the poor lighting of the room lit up her blue eyes in a way that he had never seen before. "and you certainly didn't -" she paused for a moment to rephrase her wording, " _don't_ want it. But, you weren't given a choice, you're a part of this now and there's nothing you can do to change that."

Attempting in vain to force himself to look away from the captivating colour that her eyes were projecting as if that would help him combat her argument, he wondered where she was going with this. For the very first time since he'd met her, he found himself hanging on to every word she said, not even wanted to toss out a sarcastic comment and make things worse. He soon realized that the reason behind this was because he had never before heard anyone speak so genuinely to him. She was exhausted from trying to persuade him to help the kids, that was clear to him now.

"Those children are going to look up to you whether you like it or not, you're the only one who knows what they're going through." She looked down at her hands as she spoke, but this didn't prevent Jack from seeing the authentic pain on her face, and he now suddenly found himself fighting the strong impulse to tuck the stray lock of hair that had fallen close to her eyes behind her ear. "But…" she continued, meeting his eyes once more. "…the way I see it, you can either ignore this and let them face all of it on their own, or you can embrace it."

She felt a small smile form on her face as she imagined what it would be like if Jack finally decided to let himself be a part of the team. "You could help them through the uncertainty and teach them to become the best that they can be," again, her eyes left his. "just like you were." She added so softly that he almost didn't hear it.

For the first time not only since he'd returned to Area 52, but perhaps in his whole life, Jack felt as though he suddenly knew for certain that he had someone in his corner, someone whose belief in him could not be swayed. Trust was something that did not come easily for Jack, he shouldn't think that he genuinely trusted any more than two people in his life. But, it was possible that after this short encounter, that number had grown to three.

He didn't know what to say to her, but as she lifted her head slightly and her vision met his once more, their eyes did all of the speaking. They simultaneously blinked in confusion when the bright fluorescent lights of the room suddenly turned on and a small figure appeared in the doorway. Upon seeing Cindy with her eyes still closed in a bunny suit that must have served as pyjamas, Jack glanced uncertainly at Marsha, wondering why she didn't seem as surprised at this sight as he was.

"She sleepwalks." Miss Holloway informed him in such a way that told him perhaps she'd known this from Cindy's very first day here. When she stood from the couch with a small sigh and began to gently lead the sleeping child back to her room, Jack understood that she'd likely done this for her every single night. Sitting in the now empty and somehow colder room, he was forced to allow Marsha's words to resonate with him. He didn't know what it was about her, perhaps her genuineness that he'd initially – and apparently wrongly – deemed as either naïve or fake, it definitely managed to tear through nearly every last one of his carefully constructed defences.

How could someone who evokes so much irritation from him also manage to win his trust within only the course of a week? And why didn't he say anything to her after she'd spoken such a hard-hitting truth? His second question was the only one that could be answered. Had Cindy not unintentionally interrupted them, he would have said something, though he had no idea what it would have been along the lines of. Forcing himself to stand up, grab the keys that he had entered the room in search of in the first place, and walk back to his room through the quiet, dark halls of the facility.

Along the way, his mind wandered back to the notion of Marsha helping Cindy with her sleepwalking. It was no secret to even him that the kids' parents weren't exactly supportive of their powers, and by leaving their children at Area 52, it gave them the perfect way to opt out of having to deal with their abilities. But, superhuman or not, they were just kids, they still needed parental guidance.

Someone would have to step up and fill those shoes, it was supposed to be Jack's initial job, but it seemed that Miss Holloway had already stepped into that position. And she didn't even appear reluctant in the slightest, even Jack could see the joy that she got by simply being a part of the children's lives. She truly cared for them, she genuinely wanted nothing but the best for them and she would do whatever it took to guarantee their safety and happiness.

As he finally reached his own room, Jack realized that perhaps the reason his own team never worked out was because they never had anyone like that. They never felt the security of someone selflessly putting the wellbeing of the team in their top priorities, they always felt as if it was them against the facility, and that's what destroyed them in the end. But this new team, with someone like Marsha on their side, their potential is limitless. Jack finally realized that perhaps he couldn't hold them back any longer.


	4. Chapter Four: Sweeter Than Fiction

Chapter Four: Sweeter Than Fiction

 _"_ _There you'll stand, ten feet tall; I will say, 'I knew it all along.' Just a shot in the dark, all you got are your shattered hopes. They never saw it coming, you hit the ground running, and now you're onto something. What a sight when the lights came on, proved me right when you proved them wrong. I'll be one of the many saying, 'Look at you now, you made us proud.' And when they call your name and they put you picture in a frame, you know that I'll be there time and again, because I loved you when you hit the ground."_

-Taylor Swift

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Jack's day had ended with a revelation. _He_ was the problem; it wasn't a game anymore. If he was looking for someone to blame for _anything_ really, it was himself. But, the night came and went quickly, and when he awoke, he had managed to tuck this revelation safely away into the back of his mind where so much else was stored. He may have let himself be vulnerable to Marsha's words the night before thanks to a long day, a tiresome argument, and dimmed lighting, but today was a new day.

If he was going to fulfil the promise he'd made to himself and remain closed off and dejected from everything and everyone around him, he was just going to have to act as if he was completely unchanged. This was far from challenging for him, he'd been doing it his whole like, but he couldn't let anyone see that they might just be getting to him. Especially not her.

Meanwhile, Marsha was getting very tired of trying repeatedly to finally get through to Jack to no avail. The psychiatrist in her suggested that they were close to that desired breakthrough, but it was exhausting to her as a person. It was the same every time, there were two potential outcomes with him. He would either refuse to take her words seriously and an unnecessary argument would break out, leaving him ultimately idempotent, but there were also those rare, potentially effective occasions when he would become silent as she spoke, clearly allowing himself to take in every word that she said. It was during these moments that she would hold on to that naïve hope that she might have finally begun to help him through the darkness.

But no matter how much it wore her out, she knew that she would never stop trying. That was who she was; she constantly did things for the wellbeing of other people no matter what it required on her behalf. She didn't see Jack as broken, nor as something that needed to be _fixed_ by her or anyone else. People are people, they don't change, their judgement shifts. She just wanted more than anything to help him understand how to keep the past at bay without completely repressing it, she wanted him to see that he still how the heroic potential that he always possessed. She wanted him to see himself through her eyes.

When Miss Holloway literally ran into Jack that morning, she could tell simply by his demeanor and the cold look in his eyes that he was internally ignoring the conversation that they'd had the night before. She was afraid this might happen, but she knew why he was doing it. The closer he got to a progressive change, the more intensely he would be forced to close himself off. Not only that, but the harder he would push her away, since it was her who seemed to be working her way through to him.

Jack rolled his eyes but didn't even bother to tease her about her clumsiness, so she decided to resist the urge to make her own comments about his rather impressive ability to suppress his feelings. Miss Holloway merely apologized for running into him around that dreaded corner that always seemed to compromise her equilibrium as the two of them picked up the files she'd dropped on the ground following their collision.

Due to her exhaustion, she didn't necessarily want the day to begin quite so quickly, but she inevitably had to speak the words that neither of them really wanted to hear. "You're with me today, by the way." She said as they walked in the direction of the training rooms.

Jack sighed but didn't argue. If there was one thing that he'd learned since his to Area 52, it was absolutely futile to attempt to get out of doing something that that particular woman had put into motion. It was a losing fight. Instead, he decided that he'd come about this situation with a slightly different approach as he raised his eyebrows in a blatantly flirtatious manner. "Oh, _yeah?_ " He teased in a voice filled with unspoken implications, giving her a suggestive look as they continued to walk. "Doing _what_ exactly?" He finished with a wink to which she responded with a mocking smile.

"Formal physical and psychiatric evaluations of the children." She raised an eyebrow as she spoke, knowing exactly how much he would utterly hate what was to come.

" _Well_ ," he began, mostly to himself, "that's one way to kill the mood."

Instead of playing into his characteristic flirting that she was finally beginning to notice, Miss Holloway kept her eyes forward and handed him a few identical forms. Daring to look them over, Jack realized that the two of them were going to have to work together to assess the children and fill the forms out. Wanting to do anything _but_ that, his brain was working double-time to attempt to come up with any kind of excuse, but he knew that anything he could possibly say would only be pointless.

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Jack and Marsha sat together at a small table in the newly re-glassed viewing platform while the children practiced independently below. As Miss Holloway had explained, their job was to observe them and fill out the formal evaluations while taking into account everything they know about the children personally and with regard to their abilities. And that was what _Marsha_ was currently doing; _Jack_ was sitting dejectedly in his seat while his supposed " _partner_ " did all the work as he watched the clock.

There were two sections to the evaluations, a physical examination of their powers which was supposed to be filled out by Jack, and a psychological evaluation to be filled out by Miss Holloway. After Jack had immediately let her take the lead, she suggested that he at least fill out the identification parts of the forms until it became clear that he could not do so because he didn't even know some of the children's last names let alone how old they were nor their family history.

As much as Marsha wanted to address Jack's lack of commitment and willingness to put any kind of effort into _anything_ , she also didn't want to begin an argument that she couldn't finish. Nonetheless, she worried that they were headed in that direction anyway as the two of them quickly became snippy with each other. When she just couldn't bite her tongue any longer about his apathetic behaviour, Miss Holloway sighed sharply which caused him to finally turn his attention to her.

"Could you at least _pretend_ to be interested in this?"

Casting her a look of disbelief, Jack argued back. "What would be the point of that?"

She rolled her eyes and set down the pen she'd been holding before her hand could begin to cramp. "You're going to have to contribute to this eventually."

"You think?" He responded sarcastically, causing Marsha's aggravation to boil over.

" _Jack_ ," she said irritably, "it's a _simple_ evaluation."

Jack paused for a second, shifting in his seat so that he was actually facing her. "Which is why you should have no trouble filling it out yourself." He suggested in a voice dripping with sarcasm. He didn't know why she was constantly putting him up to things like this; he _couldn't_ help the team. No matter how hard he could try, he just simply wasn't the man that she and the rest of the world were expecting him to be.

"That's not how it works, and you know it." She said in a quitter voice, thankful that they were not full out arguing yet as she slid the paper that she'd completed around so that it was now in front of him. She was right, it really was a _simple_ evaluation. Something that someone like her could do in her sleep. Unfortunately, she and Jack were two _very_ different people, and Jack would just _need_ to make a bigger deal out of it than necessary.

The working pair hadn't been sitting in the booth for long, and it took almost no time at all for Miss Holloway to fill out Cindy's psychiatric evaluation. As she moved on to the next form, Jack skimmed the paper that she'd placed before him. Her beautifully constructed script was exactly what he imagined her handwriting would look like; without flaw. Glancing up at her with a look of incredulity, he wondered if she could do _anything_ imperfectly. It infuriated him.

Marsha's evaluation was well written and carefully thought out. She'd written an incredibly thorough writeup for such a small amount of time, causing Jack to sigh silently at and finally scribble down a few casual thoughts of his own before sliding the paper away from himself and returning to his thoughtless void. He watched as Marsha's eyes went from the paper before her to what he had just written on Cindy's form. He watched with amusement as irritation flashed across her eyes at his shallow writeup, but to her credit and his curiosity, she never said anything about it or even looked over at him.

Perhaps she was giving up. Jack wondered if with all of her attempts to put him back together, he'd managed to break her. For some strange reason that would go undeveloped by Jack, this sent a wave of slight panic over him. He had no idea why the notion of Marsha giving up on him had such an effect on his concealed emotions, but he didn't like it one bit. But, unbeknownst to him, this was not the reason behind Marsha's lack of reaction.

It wasn't until all four forms were completely filled out that the issue was addressed. Miss Holloway looked up at Jack for the first time in nearly a half hour with a tired look in her eyes. "That's _really_ all you're going to write?" She questioned, hoping that he would come to his senses on his own but knowing that was a pipe dream. As she tucked the forms away into a folder, Jack sensed some kind of subtext to her words, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. It was as if she knew something that he didn't.

"I wrote what I knew." He challenged her, leaning back into his seat with crossed arms.

"That's because you haven't even taken the time to get to _know_ the children, let alone become familiar with their abilities." She tested, glancing through the glass down towards the team of kids.

" _See,_ you keep saying stuff like that," the suddenly aggravated tone of his voice caused Marsha to look back at him as he leaned closer towards from across the table with a harsh look in his eyes. "but, I'm as familiar with those kids as I'd like to be." He smirked, for some reason he had a feeling that he would get the better of this argument. How wrong he was.

Now, it was Miss Holloways turn to give him a look of sarcastic disbelief. She could see right through his façade, whether he knew it or not. "You're as familiar with them as you'll _let_ yourself be." She said, as if she'd had him figured out to a tee.

This aggravated Jack even farther, she didn't know anything about him, he wanted her to quit insinuating things. " _What_ , so we've been hanging around each other for a few days now and you figure you know _everything_ about me?" He narrowed his eyes in sarcasm.

" _Of course not_ ," she responded with sarcasm of her own, "you'd _never_ let anyone get _that_ close to you." Her comment earned her a severe look, but she continued before he could argue. "You know, maybe if you'd just _let_ yourself actually put some investment into the team that you're supposedly _leading_ , you would be so untrusting of _every_ single person you encounter."

It was the same argument between the two of them as they'd always had. But with every passing encounter, the words grew more personal. Jack was silent for a moment, before speaking with even more sarcasm than before. "Do you charge by the _hour_ for this?" And with the attack on her profession, he stood from his chair and began to walk towards the door.

Behind him, Miss Holloway simply rolled her eyes and took the folder into her hands before rising calmly and catching his attention before he could leave. "Just so you know," she began with a tone that could easily be defined as secretly devious. So much so that it made him stop in the doorframe and turn around to face her. "you and I get psychiatric evaluations, too."

" _And?_ " He asked impatiently. He had figured that, as the children's trainers, they would have to be evaluated.

" _And,_ " she mocked his tone while walked towards him, "I get to fill out yours." She finished with a satisfied smile as she walked right past him and out the door.

жжж

Jack sat alone in the lounge that evening. The kids were all around the facility together and he hadn't seen Marsha since their argument. Left alone with his thoughts, his mind forced him to dwell on things that he had no interest in revisiting. Mainly, the conversation that he'd had with Marsha in that very room nearly twenty-four hours ago.

He wondered how every single word that she'd said could be so very accurate, he wondered how she could be so convincing, he wondered why she kept trying to _fix_ him in the first place, he wondered how she hadn't collapsed with exhaustion due to his stubbornness yet. What he'd learned, was that she was surprisingly just as stubborn as he was, which lead to very tiresome arguments. Ultimately, Miss Holloway was a source of absolute wonder to him. He had never encountered anyone like her, he knew that for certain, but he wondered _why_.

Jack would always have his doubts about anyone who pledged allegiance to Area 52 – especially those who, like her, seemed to follow behind it blindly – but, she seemed nothing but genuine. Even when they argued, she only ever expressed her concerns about Jack's ultimate wellbeing. For the first time since he'd returned to the facility, Jack realized that she only argued because she _cared_. He supposed that he was unfamiliar with the concept of such care, and perhaps that was why he'd grown so defensive against her.

 _"_ _I know you didn't ask for any of this,_ " she had said the night before, " _and you certainly don't want it._ " She was right, anyone could see that. Ever since the trauma that he considered to mark the end of his life, he had a plan for how he would live out the rest of it. He would keep to himself, he would live each day the same, he wouldn't even try to turn it around, he was giving up and giving in. And just when he'd gotten so comfortable with his routine, a green dress showed up and turned everything upside down.

She'd encouraged him to " _embrace it,_ " last night. Maybe that's what he should be doing. The reality of the situation was that he was terrified to have something to lose. What he didn't realize was that, even though he didn't really know the children, there might still be _something_ to lose anyway. While all his efforts had been put into keeping himself away from caring for the kids, maybe _she_ had successfully worked her way under his skin. He had no idea that it would have been her that he had to shield his concerns from all along. But, if it had already gotten to that point after only a few days, he understood that there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop it. You can't fight the inevitable. But he could ignore it to the best of his abilities, and he could do so by growing even colder than he had been before.

Just when he'd devised this new and improved plan, his mind was suddenly on the last conversation that he'd had with Marsha. He knew that if she was in charge of his psychiatric evaluation, that meant that it was already completed and signed; she didn't procrastinate. All this meant that somewhere, in a locked filing cabinet, there were truths about him written on a paper that he might not even know. These were truths that he personally couldn't wait to argue. That alongside the fact that the evaluation was all basically an archive on Marsha's deepest opinion on him, his curiosity was quickly getting the better of him.

Within five minutes, Jack was in Dr. Grant's office, where he knew the files were all waiting to be delivered to Larraby. It took him a few mere seconds to break into the filing cabinet, swipe the folder containing the evaluations, and find a secluded spot to do some light reading. In his hands were six files, two of which he was drying to read, four of which he'd helped fill out. He didn't know what it was, Marsha's arguments were possibly finally getting to him, but something made him read through the children's files once more before getting to what he _really_ wanted to read.

This was something that had proved as the first wakeup call of many. The difference between Jack's careless notes and Marsha's precise writeup almost seemed embarrassing to him in hindsight. He actually found himself having to remind himself that he didn't care. After reading Tucker's evaluation, Jack nearly chuckled at the fact that both he and Marsha believed that the _other_ would have to work with Tucker in order to help him gain control over his powers. Since he knew damn well that he was only putting that off on her because he had no interest in putting any effort into Tucker's training (or anyone else's, for that matter), Jack figured that she was likely correct and that the only way Tucker could ever truly grasp his powers would be if Jack worked with him.

After reading Summer's evaluation, Jack smirked as he read that Marsha described how they would have to merge psychological training with physical training in order to develop the girl's powers to the greatest extend. If Marsha _wanted_ to work with him, she could have just _said_ so, he thought sarcastically and subconsciously wished that she was there so that he could tease her about that.

When Jack entered Grant's office with the intention of snooping for his own personal gain, he had no idea that it would end up being his undoing. He'd read every single word that Miss Holloway had written about the team that _he_ was supposed to be in charge of. Marsha didn't _have_ to put in so much effort, she didn't have to _care_ so much about the kids. She just _did_ , because that's who she was. Because of this, Jack was suddenly wondering about what _her_ psychiatric evaluation read. Glancing at the information portion, he noted that it was written by a Dr. Adam Stevenson.

He wasn't _going_ to read it, he genuinely wasn't. But when it came to certain things, he just couldn't help himself. Apparently, _she_ was one of those things.

 **Psychological Evaluation**

 **Date: April 14, 2007**

 **Evaluated**

 **Name: Marsha Catherine Holloway**

 **Date of Birth: September 19, 1969**

 **Psychological Evaluator: Dr. Adam Stevenson**

 **Family History**

 **Mother: Catherine Holloway (diseased, 1985)**

 **Father: Peter Holloway (diseased, 1985)**

 **Spouse: N/A**

 **Children: N/A**

As Jack read through her personal information, he knew that he should stop. He found it strange that he was feeling guilty, he would usually do things like this with no regard for anyone but himself. He didn't know what was different this time. He'd only read her personal information and family history, but what he found already came as a shock to him. Doing the math in his head, he realized that both of her parents died when she was around sixteen. She was a teenaged orphan; he never would have guessed. And here he had her pegged for " _perfect childhood._ " Knowing he shouldn't, Jack read on.

 **Psychiatric Evaluation**

 **Despite the extensively traumatic events that she has experienced as well as the abuse she was subjected to in her younger years, Marsha Holloway certainly seems to serve as the miracle case that psychiatrists are constantly searching for. To this day, thanks to not only the help that she received from others but also the help that she continuously provides herself with through her expert psychological knowledge, she remains constantly in contact with her emotions and does not dwell on the past. Though her mental state was clearly hazardous from September 1985 to July 1987 and the incidents in September 2001, October 2003, and November 2004 left her emotionally traumatized, it remains perfectly balanced today. Nonetheless, during these episodes of poor mental stability, she would always revert to her optimistic ways, and continuously see the world from a positive perspective.**

 **She constantly tries her absolute hardest to always see the best in people, almost to a fault – clearly, after everything that has happened in her life – but I see this as a testament to her undeniable strength. All things considered, it is my professional opinion that she does a miraculous job at keeping the past as bay while simultaneously avoiding harmful repression or suppression. She understands that the things that she has experienced are just as much a part of her life that she lives today, and she strives to learn from these hardships and address them appropriately while refusing to let them completely shape her world.**

 **The absolute expertise that she displays for psychology and psychiatry is well beyond my own knowledge, and she understands it on what appears to be an emotional level. She is a complete and utter asset to Area 52 and I strongly suggest hat she continue to work with the new Zenith Team as she will clearly be able to provide them with the proficiency that no one else can. My advice would be to have her continue working alongside Mr. Jack Shepherd – her expertise will be needed in order to familiarize him with his past, present, and future. What's more, is that with everything that she knows about both the psychology and physiology of metaphysical powers, I would say that there is a strong chance of him regaining his abilities.**

 **Marsha Holloway is completely mentally sound and without a doubt one of the most extraordinary cases I've ever had the pleasure of working alongside.**

 **Evaluator Signature:**

 **Dr. Adam Stevenson**

And just like that, he was hooked. Stevenson's evaluation was thorough, but left out the details that Jack desperately wanted to know. Even if the thought of them left him feeling utterly sick. He thought that _he_ was the one with the rough past, but based on what he'd just read, he now wondered if Marsha's file might even be bigger than his own. As his mind was bombarded with questions about what could have possibly happened to her when she was younger, that overwhelming sense of guilt washed over him once more.

He realized that he had just helped himself to something that she wouldn't have wanted him to see. However, he had no idea that he would find anything like what he did in her psychiatric evaluation. His only intentions for reading the evaluations was to read his own and have whatever disapproving words she used to describe him help him to dislike her more. Instead he found a piece of information that he tried to put from his mind, but knew that he'd probably never be able to let go.

In an attempt to clear his thoughts, Jack decided that it was finally time to find out just what she had to say about _his_ mental state. Picking up his file, he sighed upon realizing that it was five pages long. Ultimately, his curiosity won out over his short attention span.

 **Psychological Evaluation**

 **Date: April 14, 2007**

 **Evaluated:**

 **Name: Jack Shepherd**

 **Date of Birth: August 14, 1966**

 **Psychological Evaluator: Dr. Marsha Holloway**

 **Family History**

 **Mother: Rosalina Shepherd**

 **Father: Jonathan Shepherd (diseased 1998)**

 **Spouse: N/A**

 **Children: N/A**

 **Psychiatric Evaluation**

 **As of right now, Jack Shepherd's psychological state is clearly not the best that it could be.**

 _This should be fun_ , Jack thought to himself upon reading the very first sentence of Marsha's report.

 **This is completely fair, as he has suffered great tragedy that is incomprehensible for people who have never experienced calamity of similar magnitude. After the Gamma-13 incident where Mr. Shepherd lost not only his brother and his girlfriend, but his entire team, the collateral damage was not properly addressed by neither him nor the program. He was in shock of what had happened for quite some time and in what I assume was a state of heavy disbelief. Because of the strange way that things had happened, he never got to properly experience the stages of grief, so he immediately went straight to anger-masked guilt.**

 **On the surface, he was anger than he ever thought he could be. He searched for the rest of his life for someone or something to blame for what had happened to him and to his team. They were killed at the hand of his brother, who was presumed deal, but because Jack could never really know for sure, he would never be able to receive a complete sense of closure. For twenty years, he blamed the facility and the people inside of it, every single one of them. And rightfully so, the idea to inflict radiation onto the team in order to increase their powers was likely a merely consumption-based decision.**

 **But deeper down, Mr. Shepherd was blaming himself – and that's where the guilt comes into play. He blamed himself for everything he could think of, for not fighting the idea of the radiation, for not getting himself and his team out of Area 52 before everything went wrong, for not being able to fight his brother when he began to kill his teammates, and so on.**

 **The guilt would forever be present for him, because he was the Captain of the team, he was supposed to makes sure that, no matter what happened, they all came out of it alive in the end; and in his mind, he had failed. While it is completely unfair to blame Mr. Shepherd for anything that happened on July 23, 1987, it is going to take thorough work in order to convince him of this, as it goes against everything that he has been thinking for twenty years. Throughout the years, he pushed the guilt and anger down inside him until they were virtually forgotten about, until the day that everything was forced to catch up to him. Though he thought that he was successfully ignoring his past, he still lived his life around it in a severe way.**

 **Because he didn't want to admit to himself that the past was behind him, Mr. Shepherd forced his life to revolve around it while never actually confronting what had happened and his feelings surrounding the tragedy. While, of course, he's never told me anything at all about his life nor his past, I believe that it is safe to assume that, at least for the first few years following the trauma, he suffered from a case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder that was likely – or perhaps, still is – accompanied by flashbacks and intrusive memories due to the suppression that has resulted in a complete ignorance of the past events that have shaped who he is today.**

 **He lives in a seriously unhealthy state of denial, that he will one day have to come to terms with before any progress can be made. Upon his return to Area 52, I have only been able to assess the things that he wants me to see, the way that he interacts with others, and the slight things that I am sometimes able to pick up on. It is painfully clear that Mr. Shepherd refuses to trust anybody at the facility (or perhaps in general) in even the slightest way; but until he can learn to do so, there is only so much that I can receive from him. He has spent the last two decades of his life building rock-solid walls around every part of him so as not to expose himself to the same kind of hurt that he once experienced, thus making him a facetiously bitter man.**

 **Even with all things considered, I can still see the valiant hero that he once was and still could be if he would only let himself. It is nothing if not clear to me that he still possesses the courage, selflessness, humility, and kindness that he did when he was known as "** ** _Captain Zoom_** **," as these are things that one does not simply lose, but he has taken to masking these traits with bitterness, anger, narcissism, and sarcasm. I believe that when the time truly calls for it, he will one day let those qualities surface and regain the status that he once bad.**

 **Based on my observations, I believe that the reason he refuses to train the children properly and put true effort into their success is because he does not wish to form strong bongs or relationships with them. He has witnessed firsthand just how easily the people that you care for can get taken from you in their line of work, and he thinks that he would be nothing but foolish to let himself care about anyone that could so easily disappear. His utter lack of responsibility and interest in the new team as well as his disregard for consequences makes that clear.**

 **Another note I have is that Mr. Shepherd has a clear aversion to being titled "** ** _Captain Zoom_** **," which at first, I found strange, since the two are ultimately the same person. But, I understand now that in Mr. Shepherd's mind, he is no longer capable of being a hero to be looked up to. He does not want the responsibility of people considering him a role model or expecting things from him that he is unable to accomplish. While "** ** _Captain Zoom_** **" is Jack Shepherd, Jack Shepherd is not "** ** _Captain Zoom._** **" The superhero is composed of all of Mr. Shepherd's best qualities, but leaves out the rest. The man himself is much more than that, this was a concept that I did not quite understand until working alongside Mr. Shepherd for the past few days.**

 **As noted before, Mr. Shepherd has devoted his life to building barriers and defences around his mind, heart, past, and emotions. But, I believe that these walls might just be broken if the right person tries hard enough. There is a tremendous amount of good inside of him, even if no one else – specifically himself – finds that easily observable. He is still capable of everything that he once was, he simply now has more baggage that comes with it. He is no longer the teenaged superhero that was portrayed in the media, he has faced the real world and grown into an adult; the circumstances have changed indefinitely.**

 **In my professional opinion, with time, Mr. Shepherd will open himself up to the idea of providing support and training to the team of children. It is going to take a lot of time and work in order for him to ever learn to trust anyone completely again, but I hardly believe it to be impossible.**

 **Evaluator Signature:**

 **Marsha Holloway**

Jack was rather shocked – the woman who he assumed simply _tolerated_ may as well have written an entire essay on him. Not only that, it was more accurate than it could have been if he himself had composed it. He had underestimated her; not only her acute ability to observe, but her sincerity. He had to read it twice

Right from the start, she holds back nothing. She writes that she understands Jack's anger towards the facility and all that they stand for. Not only does she justify it, but she seems to feel it as well. The words that she had written could have served as a rebellion on paper. Clearly, Jack had been wrong in thinking that he could not trust _any_ employee of Area 52, as they would just follow orders blindly. Simply hearing that she agrees that the program had made a mistake with the radiation was enough for Jack to feel a relief that he thought he'd never feel.

And what did she do next? She called him out. She stated that Jack had been blaming himself all these years – and she was nothing but correct. This was something that he couldn't even admit to himself and yet she managed to make him understand that this was exactly what he was doing. She then began to make assumptions about how the incident and the associated guilt were affecting him. He'd never told her anything of the sort, she'd inferred it all, and again, she was spot on. How was it that someone whom he had just met somehow knew him better than he even knew himself? She must be good at her job.

But, the most miraculous thing of all to him, was the way that she actually understood his resentment of the label " _Captain Zoom._ " It was as if she had managed to put his thoughts into words. She realizes that Zoom is only the character, made up of Jack Shepherd's most noble qualities – something that he assumed she of all people would never comprehend. Jack is the _real_ person, and he is composed of much more than simply heroic characteristics. If you want one, you get the other.

Everyone always assumes that they know him based on the stories that they've heard and the comics that they've read. It takes a lot to truly know Jack Shepherd and to accept the fact that he really is _not_ " _Captain Zoom_ " as he goes about his every day life. When the time called for it, of course he could channel up these qualities and become purely the hero, but that took dire situations. She understood that. And for the first time since he'd returned to Area 52, Jack realized that his one and only goal of not allowing himself to have anything to lose would never be accomplished. He already had something to lose – her unconditional support.

She trusted him, that much was clear. It took reading the report to realize that he had been wrong about her. She did _not_ follow blindly behind Area 52, she followed blindly behind _him_. And that was dangerous for the bother of them, she knew that. And yet, she still decided to give him all of her faith and trust. He hadn't experienced anyone do this since his original team was still living – he'd never encountered anyone quite like her.

And suddenly, something inside of him shifted. All of the arguments that they'd had, all of the times that she'd tried to convince him to commit himself to the team, all of the times she'd tried to tell him that he wasn't as bad as he made himself out to seem, the night before in the lounge when he realized that she was someone he could trust, and now the file that he'd just read. It was overwhelming and, quite frankly, terrifying. And yet, it was not unpleasant. It was all strangely reassuring.

She was right, she had been right all along, and he had no idea why it took him so long to realize this. He was _going_ to help those children, he was _going_ to be the leader that they needed, he was _going_ to make sure that the past was not recreated, and he was _going_ to do it because _she_ wanted him to. If it had been that simple all along, he hadn't realized it.

жжж

The next morning, Jack awoke feeling more refreshed than ever before and truly ready for the day ahead. Today was the day that he begun trying, he would actually put his time and effort into training the kids. But, before he could begin to do so, he would need to assemble some kind of team that could fabricate proper suits for them to wear during combat. Their military jumpsuits would be fine for training, but out in the field, things would be different.

Meanwhile, Miss Holloway paced around the classroom as she and the children waited for Jack. He was scheduled to take over for her in the classroom about ten minutes ago, so the team was in waiting. The kids weren't surprised, they weren't even disappointed or frustrated anyone either, they had simply grown to expect it. Marsha didn't know why she was still waiting for him to do the right thing, but she had a feeling that she would never stop doing so.

Which is why she attempted to appear unconcerned as the kids sat at their desks in boredom, even if she felt utterly defeated inside. She wondered if all of her efforts to get him to put some effort into the team had only had the reverse effect. This was not at all who she'd expected Jack to be when she was initially informed that the legendary superhero would be returning to the facility, but she was continuously waiting for him to put his talents to good use. She wanted him to be a hero, she _needed_ a hero.

Miss Holloway glanced at the clock once more, and just as she was about so suggest that they just move on without him, the man himself came through the door with uncharacteristic ease. "Sorry I'm late," he began as he caught her eye from the opposite side of the room, "I had to get my team together." The surprise that Marsha initially felt at whatever change of heart he was experiencing quickly morphed into total happiness. She was unable to prevent herself for smiling slightly in his direction as he came towards her and he must have noticed her contentment, because he cast a teasing look her way. "You almost look _happy_ to see me."

And he was right, if the two of them weren't careful, they might just accidentally cast aside their irritation for each other and allow fondness to grow.

Within a few days, the progress being made by the team was noticed by all, even by Larraby, who never seemed _pleased_ by anything. It had only been a mere week and a half since the team was assembled, and they'd suffered through their fair share of difficulties already, but their initiation was promptly complete. This, of course, was made possible by Jack's transition from bitter to invested. Jack had now come to terms with the fact that he truly was being ridiculous in not allowing himself to put the wellbeing of the children before his own fears, and it took someone repeatedly bringing this to his attention in order to allow the change to be made.

Speaking of that particular person, Jack realized that he hadn't seen much of her since his change in character, mainly because he'd been so busy with the newfound interest he'd discovered in training the kids. He knew that none of his current success could have been possible without her, and he decided that perhaps it was time for him to swallow his pride and offer up something in the vague form of a thank you.


End file.
